Any Video Memory Test like Memtest?

[dakata24]

im trying to narrow down the cause of BSODs ive been getting (even after a fresh install of windows xp)..

system memory is fine after 15 passes with memtest+

now onto other possible culprits..

 

[Lonyo]

CPU?

 

[Nohr]

PSU is where I'd look next and overclocking woes if applicable. Video RAM problems would be more likely to cause artifacting and other visual glitches than a BSOD.

 

[imported_Kensai]

3DMark05 stresses the GPU quite a fair bit.

 

[dakata24]

oh. i guess ill test out the cpu.

it's a laptop so no overclocking involved.

its strange. it'll BSOD 5-10 times. and afterwards, it works just fine.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: dakata24
im trying to narrow down the cause of BSODs ive been getting (even after a fresh install of windows xp)..

system memory is fine after 15 passes with memtest+

now onto other possible culprits..

Bad video memory would almost always cause graphical glitches rather than outright crashes (especially if you are not running a 3D app at the time).

I'd focus on the CPU/memory. Try Prime95 or other punishing CPU/memory-intensive benches. I've had systems where memtest86 passes, but Prime95 won't, because the memory is unstable at 100% CPU load but not when running memtest86.

 

[dakata24]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: dakata24
im trying to narrow down the cause of BSODs ive been getting (even after a fresh install of windows xp)..

system memory is fine after 15 passes with memtest+

now onto other possible culprits..

Bad video memory would almost always cause graphical glitches rather than outright crashes (especially if you are not running a 3D app at the time).

I'd focus on the CPU/memory. Try Prime95 or other punishing CPU/memory-intensive benches. I've had systems where memtest86 passes, but Prime95 won't, because the memory is unstable at 100% CPU load but not when running memtest86.

ok. will give it a try. thanks

 

[Fern]

Any Video Memory Test like Memtest?

Yeah, I've seen a proggie to test nVidia cards ram. Look at Majorgeeks.com or another site with free benchies and you'll find it.

 

[cbehnken]

Laptops are bad for this sort of thing. I had one that if you moved it, it would BSOD. I think over time they develop hairline cracks on the motherboard. May want to RMA if you still have a warranty.

 

[dakata24]

Originally posted by: cbehnken
Laptops are bad for this sort of thing. I had one that if you moved it, it would BSOD. I think over time they develop hairline cracks on the motherboard. May want to RMA if you still have a warranty.

nope. no warranty. it started freaking out on me right after it was up.. i think this compaqs way of creating new sources of revenue.. from just out of warranty customers.. 😛

 

[Pete]

I'm looking into system instability myself (some games crash regularly). Try Prime95's Torture Test. Run the default bench, and if you get an error, try selecting the small torture test (fits in CPU's L2) to keep the memory out of the loop.

For the video card, I'd try RTHDRIBL [sic] and ATI Tool's OC'ing tool in addition to 3DM2k3 and 2k5. Actually, the Doom 3 demo is also supposed to be a great GPU killer.